C7 bus service

As part of the county council cuts, one proposal is to end the subsidy paid to the bus company to run the C7 service covering Sawston, Duxford and Whittlesford. The problem is that the bus is pretty empty going through Whittlesford, and fills up from Sawston onwards into Cambridge. But the county has been paying a staggering quarter of a million (£239k) each year in subsidy. It does make you wonder whether the deal has been a good one ...

My point is that we are going to have to be flexible about these sorts of services, and one thing I reckon we should look at is a feeder service that collects people from villages and drops off at a Sawston bus stop to connect with the main bus - and runs to a time that co-incides with the train departures at Whittlesford, which the C7 currently doesnt.

This is the set-up in Hong Kong, and probably other places round the world, which has stood the test of time (in that it was running 20 years ago when I first lived there and was still going strong, now with air-conditioning, when we were back last year).

Of course you still need a driver, but the operating costs of a small mini-bus must be less than a huge double-decker. If each parish council put in a subsidy, and made it clear to villagers that was what it was doing, there might be more sense of ownership and support. Insurance costs - maybe the local authority could use its purchasing muscle to negotiate a good deal.

Or, we just accept that there isnt going to be much of a bus service, and we all drive around, paying whatever it will be next for a litre of gas, and the people who can't drive are trapped in the village (without its village shop...).

solar farm proposals at Thriplow drift

Went along to Thriplow Village Hall to find out more about the proposal for a solar park along the drift to the east of Thriplow. (The area marked in red on the map) About 50 people came along during the course of the afternoon.

This is a bit of a first, as there are currently about six applications in with south cambs seeking to put up solar panels, and a similar number down in Cornwall, but nothing actually up and running yet. So uncharted territory. Obviously far less impact on the countryside than a wind turbine - but less electricity generated.

It was helpful to understand more about the proposal, how it would work, and what impact there would be on the environment from the panels. For example, the panels don't require full sun to operate, so even on a dull winters day they generate some power. Thriplow Parish Council intend to hold a public meeting on this proposals - date to be advised.

Whittlesford Social Club - application for licence extension withdrawn

Went along to the well-attended meeting last Friday
night at the Village Hall where about sixty people
turned up to ask questions about the licence extension put in by the village social club. The extension would in effect allow drinking outside the building, in what is currently the tarmac covered courtyard (left) but which now has planning permission for a different - and arguably more attractive covering, lending to a greater level of outside socializing in the summer months.
The meeting hear a lot of concern about noise levels, swearing, inconsiderate car parking on the High Street and late hours voiced by people living nearby. On the other hand, a village amenity that has been there a long time and clearly serves a need given its membership numbers.
After a while, an agreement put forward by the social club to with draw the application and try to work with people to build a better relationship. I support this - clearly given the level of concern if something isn't worked out they may well lose the whole licence.
I spoke to the licence team at South Cambs today who confirmed this application had been withdrawn and who are meeting the social club management team next week to give some guidance.

solar farm proposals at Thriplow drift

Just had a letter about a public meeting at Thriplow village hall next Friday, 28th Jan, from a firm wanting to put an unspecified number of solar panels on the Russell Smith Farms fields on either side of the drift path between Thriplow and Whittlesford.

The panels would be over six foot high and be two feet off the ground, so eight foot in all.Well, we've had plenty of wind farm applications - another meeting about the Heydon Grange Wind Farm coming up in mid-Feb - so I guess it was only a matter of time before this popped up.

Street lighting in Knight's Orchard

I'd asked the county engineers about the lighting levels in Knight's Orchard, off Station Road. The issue came up at the Parish Council.

The engineers have come back to say that the developer isn't planning to put street lights in, and this apparently was agreed some time back. This was on the basis of local consultation - which we'll need to find out a bit more about - that because Station Road itself is pretty dark (say that again) if this development was lit to current requirements it would look like a fairground by contrast.

Mmmm. People now moving into the development might not have realised this - it does look pretty dark - and because it is on a slope, it seems more so going further away from Station Road. I also learnt that developers do not have to install lighting for the road to be adopted.

Licencing application from Whittlesford Social Club

The club, in the High Street, is seeking a variation on its licence, mainly to do with what activities and and when it can stage indoors. The application can be viewed at the south cambs website as follows:

www.scambs.gov.uk then go to Licensing, Permits etc on left - then
Public Registers - under Licensing Act chose Premises Register. You now
can put in Whittlesford Social Club in the (Premises Name box) and press
Search. You should now be able to scroll down and click on the blue
number 017700 variation, which will give you all the details of the
application.

People have until 20th January to lodge any views on the application. If any further information is required people can contact the case officer dealing with this variation application on (01954)
713024 .

Neighbourhood policing forum update

A brisk meeting on a cold January night.

Locally, the Sawston-based police led by Inspector Savage that cover this patch of Cambridgeshire including Whittlesford, Thriplow and Heathfield have focused on traffic, speeding and parking issues, and on bogus traders, in recent months.

The police have visited Station Road Whittlesford on a regular basis and issued a number of warnings and parking tickets. Their focus is the commuters who chance parking on Station Road, though they have also got the message across to the builders (who are less in evidence now the two developments are almost completed.)

Incidents in Whittlesford and Thriplow are below those recorded during the same period last year and crime such as burglary is down across the sub-district.

They haven't found too many bogus traders, though the meeting heard reports of a scam whereby householders are offered a gutter-cleaning service at a very reasonable price, the trick being that the cleaners then surreptiously and quietly damage the guttering in the process of cleaning, say that they have spotted a problem and then offer to repair it at what quickly becomes a very unreasonable price.

salt bins

The arrival of salt bins in Whittlesford just before the Christmas big freeze, and the one already in use at Heathfield has been followed by requests for more of them, for use by Pepperslade residents for example. Clearly if we are going to have more of this weather then these little bits of self-help are going to be more in demand.